Another PC Upgrade Thread
Hey Polycount!
I'm currently in the process of planning an upgrade for my desktop, and thought it'd be a good idea to ask here to see if what I was going with was a good idea.
I don't have too great a budget, but I do want to fix some of the outdated parts of my setup. My work is primarily on 3Ds Max and ZBrush, and heavy, heavy Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign files. I also like staying up to date with games - think Shogun 2 Total War, Crysis 2, etc - and playing them with fairly high levels of visuals.
The end product aims to be:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
1GB + 1GB + 2GB + 2GB RAM, all DDR2 = 6GB DDR2 RAM
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
nVidia GeForce 8600GT for PhysX
Intel Core 2 Duo 6700 2.67 GHz [remaining from my original rig]
Specific questions I had:
Is the graphic card I'm aiming for - nVidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB - a good choice? I've seen it suggested in a few other such PC upgrade threads here, but I want to make sure this card is still relevant for 3D art, as well as playing games at higher/highest settings.
The RAM modules currently in my computer are 2 x 1GB DDR2 from Kingston. I have 2 x 2GB DDR2 from Kingston currently just sitting in a drawer. I was planning on installing those two, as well as keeping the original 1GBs. Will they still run dual channel? Would it be more efficient to just have 2 x 2GB?
Is it a good idea, or pointless, to use my current graphic card [8600GT 256MB] as a PhysX card, when I get my 460?
That's all the questions I have at the moment.
Any help and direction, at all, would be great.
Cheers!
I'm currently in the process of planning an upgrade for my desktop, and thought it'd be a good idea to ask here to see if what I was going with was a good idea.
I don't have too great a budget, but I do want to fix some of the outdated parts of my setup. My work is primarily on 3Ds Max and ZBrush, and heavy, heavy Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign files. I also like staying up to date with games - think Shogun 2 Total War, Crysis 2, etc - and playing them with fairly high levels of visuals.
The end product aims to be:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
1GB + 1GB + 2GB + 2GB RAM, all DDR2 = 6GB DDR2 RAM
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB
nVidia GeForce 8600GT for PhysX
Intel Core 2 Duo 6700 2.67 GHz [remaining from my original rig]
Specific questions I had:
Is the graphic card I'm aiming for - nVidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB - a good choice? I've seen it suggested in a few other such PC upgrade threads here, but I want to make sure this card is still relevant for 3D art, as well as playing games at higher/highest settings.
The RAM modules currently in my computer are 2 x 1GB DDR2 from Kingston. I have 2 x 2GB DDR2 from Kingston currently just sitting in a drawer. I was planning on installing those two, as well as keeping the original 1GBs. Will they still run dual channel? Would it be more efficient to just have 2 x 2GB?
Is it a good idea, or pointless, to use my current graphic card [8600GT 256MB] as a PhysX card, when I get my 460?
That's all the questions I have at the moment.
Any help and direction, at all, would be great.
Cheers!
Replies
It's fine. I'd honestly pop for the 1gig version. It's a better performance deal. Do keep in mind that 'playing games at highest settings' and 3D art have little to nothing to do with each other, and are sometimes at odds (specifically heat/stability). That said, the 460 is currently a sweet spot for the money, and should do just fine with games.
It'll depend on your MB as to whether they'll run dual channel. I'm guessing they will. You'll definitely want more than 4 gigs if you can get it...the more the better. As long as they'll run on the same timings, the performance hit will be minimal to nonexistant.
Pointless, I'd think. The performance boost you're getting by switching to the 460 will outstrip the need for an additional card. The tiny performance boost you might get will be offset by the additional heat and space in the case. Unless you have a specific application demanding the performance boost, I'd leave it alone.
Currently I have a 550W or a 500W PSU - need to double check, but it's one of those two.
Either way, I had a feeling having 2 cards would be too much for my system.
@Artifice:
I'll look into getting a 1GB model instead. Hopefully I can find one in-store [I generally dislike ordering hardware online]. I've heard the two are at odds, often. Never quite understood how that works. If it's a matter of temperatures - my system is pretty cooled. I have 2 or 3 fans, and the temperatures almost never go too high. Then again, I don't have all that stressful a system right now, either. I'm hoping to get something which is in between the two.
As for RAM, CPUz says my current 2x1GB modules are running in dual channel. I assume the other two should work too. I think the 1GB modules might be slower [in MHz] than the 2GB ones though. I hope that's not too much of a performance hit?
Finally - I guess I'll sell off my card for a couple bucks or for recycling or something. Had a feeling it wouldn't be worth it.
Oh, and my mobo is an Asus P5W DH Deluxe.
Thanks for the pointers!
Can't wait for my first upgrade in ~4 years.
As to the RAM, I'd just stick them all in and go for it. You're not going to hurt anything by trying it. Worst case is that the mobo won't POST and it'll beep and whatnot. Just kill the power and pull the 1GB sticks. I can definitely say that 8GB vs 4GB is a world of difference, in almost everything you do. If the extra 2 sticks don't work out, I'd look into picking up another set of 2x2GB.
Best of luck, upgrades are always fun!
The 8600GT is completely worthless for PhysX, trust me I tried it in conjunction with a GTX 260, the slightly slower brother of your 460 and it actually made my performance slower in benchmarks. -_- This issue is only compounded the faster your main GPU is. it just doesn't have the power to do PhysX effectively and it ends up forcing the faster card to wait for it.
As long as all the ram modules run at the same voltage you're ok. However if their voltages are different you risk hitting constant bluescreens. Whatever the slowest rated ram runs at (Mhz) That's what all the ram will run at.
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401
Sounds good. If everything works out, I'll end up with the 768mb, and 6GB of RAM. And by saving on the card, I'd probably be able to up to 8GB sooner rather than later. Thanks again!
Mr_Paris:
Haha, okay. I'll get rid of the old card afterwards. I imagine the gtx 460 can do both physx and render at the same time. I tested using CPU physx on the Mafia 2 Demo, and apparently my CPU can take the load as well. The RAM modules are all 1.8V, but the 2GB ones are compatible down to 533MHz, whereas the 1GB ones are 333MHz. If I hit BSOD, I'll just keep the 2 x 2GB. Thanks!
EmAr:
Great, now I'm worried. I've never experienced this problem, myself. I tried searching for issues between ASUS P5W DH Deluxe and Zotac, and didn't see too much. However, there are quite a few problems reported between the mobo and the gtx 460 from other manufacturers. I really hope I don't end up with problems. Thanks for the warning!
Yeah that Mafia 2 demo was what I tested it on. My performance dropped by 3-6fps with the 8600GT enabled versus just letting the GTX 260 handle both. I was pretty upset .
Ah I see. Might as well just let the 460 handle both.
Well it's pretty set then - 460gtx + 6gb of ram is the current upgrade i'm going to be doing. Will be adding the ram this weekend, and the card in the next few weeks. Time for some dx11 =D.
Fun times.
Thanks for everything!